Yarn Overs

The direction in which the yarn is wrapped around the needle affects the size of hole created by a yarn over. If you are working on a project that has lots of yarn overs between different types of stitches you may want to swatch and alter the yarn over directions so that your yarn overs are of a uniform size. Ishbel is one of the patterns where this question comes up regarding the size of the yarn overs not matching on the edges and either side of the spine stitch.

Yarn over —bring the yarn to the front between the two needles and then to the back over the right needle. If the next stitch is a purl bring it to the front between the needles.

Backwards yarn over — bring the yarn to the front over the top of the right needle. If the next stitch is a knit bring it to the back between the needles.

Backwards yarn overs mount the created stitch on the needles so that on the following row you must work into the back leg of the stitch to avoid twisting it.

Advantage of combining yos

As can be seen in the above swatch regular yarn overs worked between a knit and a purl create a substantially larger hole than they do when the purl stitch comes before the yarn over and the knit stitch comes after. Working a backwards yarn over between the knit and purl can give a more symmetrical result.

On a shawl like Ishbel all of the yarn overs at the edges on the right side are worked between two knit stitches. But on the wrong side the centre stockinette portion is purled and the garter stitch edges are knit. Consequently at the beginning of the row you work k3, yo, purland at the end you work purl, yo, k3. Prevent the yarn overs at one side from being larger by working that first yarn over before a purl backwards. Don’t forget to knit into the back leg on the next row!

Other yarn overs

Double yarn over — yo2

The yarn is wrapped around the needle twice and makes a larger hole than a single yarn over. On the next row the double yarn over is often worked into twice (k1, p1) or (p1, k1) creating two stitches. The double yarn over is used in Sherilyn for the edging and in wee Liesl to create the buttonholes. Always treat a double yarn over as a single loop on the subsequent row.

Elongated stitch multiple yarn over

Some elongated stitches are worked by wrapping the yarn several times and dropping the extra loops on the following row.

Selvedge overs – used in shawls where the yarn over loops made make picking up stitches later easier, an example of this is Follow Your Arrow clue 1 A — video

Steeks! We usually see steeks cut through a column of extra stitches but multiple yarn overs can also be used:

“At one time, when garments were mainly constructed in Round Knitting, Overs were a means of dividing a tubular fabric. Ten or twelve Overs would be made, and dropped on the next row. When completed, these bars would be cut and folded back and the edges finished with crochet.”

Pricing patterns has always been one of the hardest parts of designing and I’ve often felt like the “standard” price of knitting patterns is both lower than other similar products (eg. indie sewing patterns) and doesn’t really reflect the amount of work that goes into them. At the same time, it’s totally fair to worry that rising pattern prices will price people out.